The Mountain Goats are an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. In 2005, New Yorker critic Sasha Frere-Jones praised Darnielle as "America's best non-hip hop lyricist." In 2006, Darnielle was included in Paste Magazine's list of the 100 Best Living Songwriters.
For many years, the sole member of The Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker. (During live shows, in what Frere-Jones describes as "a bit of ontological slapstick," Darnielle...